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19 December 2007

The Closet's Last Champion: Bill O'Reilly

There are very few articles I've ever worked as hard on as this one. Or felt so slimed while researching.

It's a look at Bill O'Reilly's attitudes toward lesbian/gay issues that I wrote for AfterElton.com -- so, okay, not exactly the kind of fun experience I had researching gay and lesbian clips in the Daily Show archive. But you know, a girl's gotta pay her shoe bill somehow:

It’s easy to call Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly a
hypocrite, mostly, of course, because he is. He oozes concern for the plight of
queer teenagers while doing his level best to make sure the world remains a
dangerous place in which to grow up gay. He pontificates on the sanctity of the
church while being sued by a former producer who claimed he whispered dirty
fantasies to her over the phone. And he shakes his fist in defense of truth,
justice, and the American way while repeating stories that are false.

But there’s one way in which O’Reilly shows a remarkable
consistency. Whether on his nightly show The
O’Reilly Factor on Fox News, his interviews on other people’s shows, or his
radio program, the ideology of the closet permeates nearly every word about
homosexuality that comes out of Bill O’Reilly’s mouth. He may describe himself
as a moderate because he doesn’t want to see gay people bashed, imprisoned, or
fired from our jobs, but the truth is, he just wants us to shut up, and doesn’t
hesitate to say so.